Embedding arrows & stuff

Tim Wescott <tim <at> wescottdesign.com>
2012-05-08 19:04:08 GMT

I want to generate a page with Beamer that looks like the enclosed pdf.
Any suggestions on how to achieve the "arrows pointing to parts of an
equation" effect?
I'm thinking that I should probably just write an equation, print the
file to eps (if I can figure out how), edit it with Inkscape, then put
that figure into the text.
But if there's a stunningly easier way that doesn't involve spending the
next year learning some new tool, I'm open to suggestions.
--
--
Tim Wescott
www.wescottdesign.com
Control & Communications systems, circuit & software design.

Re: Embedding arrows & stuff

Paul A. Rubin <rubin <at> msu.edu>
2012-05-08 22:25:02 GMT

Tim Wescott <tim <at> wescottdesign.com> writes:
>
> I want to generate a page with Beamer that looks like the enclosed pdf.
> Any suggestions on how to achieve the "arrows pointing to parts of an
> equation" effect?
>
> I'm thinking that I should probably just write an equation, print the
> file to eps (if I can figure out how), edit it with Inkscape, then put
> that figure into the text.
>
> But if there's a stunningly easier way that doesn't involve spending the
> next year learning some new tool, I'm open to suggestions.
>
Not "stunningly easier", but I would use the TiKZ package (by Til Tantau, the
author of Beamer). It's worth getting to know for its easy integration with
Beamer and its range.
I'm pasting in an example below (one frame from a demo I did here).
Paul
#LyX 2.0 created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/
\lyxformat 413
\begin_document
\begin_header
\textclass beamer
\begin_preamble
\usepackage{tikz}

Re: Embedding arrows & stuff

Tim Wescott <tim <at> wescottdesign.com>
2012-05-09 15:39:47 GMT

On Tue, 2012-05-08 at 22:25 +0000, Paul A.Rubin wrote:
> Tim Wescott <tim <at> wescottdesign.com> writes:
>
> >
> > I want to generate a page with Beamer that looks like the enclosed
> pdf.
> > Any suggestions on how to achieve the "arrows pointing to parts of
> an
> > equation" effect?
> >
> > I'm thinking that I should probably just write an equation, print
> the
> > file to eps (if I can figure out how), edit it with Inkscape, then
> put
> > that figure into the text.
> >
> > But if there's a stunningly easier way that doesn't involve spending
> the
> > next year learning some new tool, I'm open to suggestions.
> >
>
> Not "stunningly easier", but I would use the TiKZ package (by Til
> Tantau, the
> author of Beamer). It's worth getting to know for its easy integration
> with
> Beamer and its range.
>
> I'm pasting in an example below (one frame from a demo I did here).
That looks cool -- but it runs off the right side of my screen and Lyx

Re: Embedding arrows & stuff

Paul A. Rubin <rubin <at> msu.edu>
2012-05-10 00:10:33 GMT

Tim Wescott <tim <at> wescottdesign.com> writes:
> That looks cool -- but it runs off the right side of my screen and Lyx
> won't let me scroll over there.
>
> Suggestions?
This is a major PITA. Horizontal scrollbars have been suggested, and I suspect
there's a (long) open ticket for it.
My preferred workaround used to be to select the entire equation and use ctrl-M
to convert it back to plain text, dink around with that, then ctrl-M again to
make it a formula once more. That no longer works (I'm not sure which version
did away with it).
The best workaround I've got now is to insert the cursor into the formula and
use Edit > Math > Change Formula Type to make it AMS multiline. Then I can
insert ctrl-enter periodically to break it into multiple lines, do any edits I
want, and then use Edit > Math > Change Formula Type to convert it back into an
regular display mode formula. Sigh.
Paul

RE: Embedding arrows & stuff

Scott Kostyshak <skostysh <at> Princeton.EDU>
2012-05-10 03:06:03 GMT

From: Paul A. Rubin [rubin <at> msu.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 8:10 PM
>This is a major PITA. Horizontal scrollbars have been suggested, and I suspect
>there's a (long) open ticket for it.
Yes, here: http://www.lyx.org/trac/ticket/1083
>My preferred workaround used to be to select the entire equation and use ctrl-M
>to convert it back to plain text, dink around with that, then ctrl-M again to
>make it a formula once more. That no longer works (I'm not sure which version
>did away with it).
I didn't know that this is how it used to work. I wonder why it was changed. For something similar, see
workaround 1 below.
Here are 3 workarounds to long inline math equations that you might find useful.
workaround 1:
Convert the math to LaTeX, edit the LaTeX, then convert back to math.
Two ways to do this:
(a) You could bind the following command-sequence to a shortcut. Then put your cursor in front of your long
equation and run the shortcut.
command-sequence char-forward; line-end-select ; cut; char-backward; paste; char-delete-forward
(b) Or if you want to do it manually, go just inside the equation and do ctrl+shift+<right arrow> or
ctrl+end. Both of those work for me. And then go outside of math and paste. It should now show up as LaTeX.
To convert from LaTeX back to math, highlight the LaTeX code and do ctrl+m.

Re: Embedding arrows & stuff

Guenter Milde <milde <at> users.sf.net>
2012-05-10 06:55:33 GMT

On 2012-05-10, Scott Kostyshak wrote:
> From: Paul A. Rubin [rubin <at> msu.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 8:10 PM
>>My preferred workaround used to be to select the entire equation and
>>use ctrl-M to convert it back to plain text, dink around with that,
>>then ctrl-M again to make it a formula once more. That no longer works
>>(I'm not sure which version did away with it).
> I didn't know that this is how it used to work. I wonder why it was
> changed. For something similar, see workaround 1 below.
...
> Two ways to do this:
> (a) You could bind the following command-sequence to a shortcut. Then
> put your cursor in front of your long equation and run the shortcut.
> command-sequence char-forward; line-end-select ; cut; char-backward;
> paste; char-delete-forward
> (b) Or if you want to do it manually, go just inside the equation and
> do ctrl+shift+<right arrow> or ctrl+end. Both of those work for me. And
> then go outside of math and paste. It should now show up as LaTeX.
Feature request:
It would be nice, if a math inset would behave like a float, minipage or
branch: if you go to the first position inside the inset and press
backspace, the inset is dissolved and the content inlined. This would

Re: Embedding arrows & stuff

Paul A. Rubin <rubin <at> msu.edu>
2012-05-10 15:02:35 GMT

Guenter Milde <milde <at> users.sf.net> writes:
> It would be nice, if a math inset would behave like a float, minipage or
> branch: if you go to the first position inside the inset and press
> backspace, the inset is dissolved and the content inlined. This would
> give a consistent user experience.
I'll second that motion.
Paul

Re: Embedding arrows & stuff

Guenter Milde <milde <at> users.sf.net>
2012-05-09 06:53:42 GMT

On 2012-05-08, Tim Wescott wrote:
> I'm thinking that I should probably just write an equation, print the
> file to eps (if I can figure out how), edit it with Inkscape, then put
> that figure into the text.
There was a thread about "LyX as equation editor" here on the list some
time ago. The idea is simply to add export options (EPS, PDF (cropped), SVG)
in the Tools>Settings>Export dialogue. It is (AFAIK) described on
wiki.lyx.org.
Günter